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Published: August 30th 2010
Well, after four months of travelling; 10,583 miles; 2 Canadian Provinces, 1 Territory and 3 US states; oh, and 6,771 photographs (
yes, really!) I have to hand the van back in less than 48 hrs time. So I have come back to the RV park Burnaby where I started my camping adventures on 1 May.
Since I last created a blog entry, I spent a very pleasant couple of days on the Sunshine Coast. The weather there wasn’t quite as good as it gets billed: but I did see a fair amount of sunshine. I made it all the way to the end of Highway 101 (the main road that runs up the Sunshine Coast), and then I drove slowly back down again (i.e. it took four days to do 84 km), stopping at some great places on the way - Powell River, Skookumchuck Narrows, Smuggler Cove, Sechelt and Porpoise Bay to name but a few. Returning to the “mainland” -
I know that the Sunshine Coast is technically on the mainland, but as you can only get to it by boat it does really feel like an island - I stopped off at Whytecliff Park in West Vancouver to
watch the ferries coming in and out of harbour at Horseshoe Bay. I then pushed further east into the Lower Mainland, back up towards Hope, stopping off at Chilliwack for a quick visit to Cultus Lake (
not as exciting as I’d hoped) and Harrison Hot Springs (
more picturesque than I was expecting).
And I
FINALLY got to see a beaver! (
It may be the national animal of Canada, but they are somewhat difficult to spot as they are incredibly timid). I was staying at a Provincial Park just outside Harrison Hotsprings, and had an early evening walk around “Beaver Pond” when I noticed a very odd wake on the water: and there was a beaver happily swimming along without a care in the world. I managed to take a couple of very bad photographs before he noticed me and ran for the hills (
well, his lodge at any rate).
I have spent the last couple of days pottering around the Lower Mainland & Greater Vancouver area. I spent a night at Rolley Lake near Mission, and a night in the Golden Ears Provincial Park, outside Maple Ridge. I also managed to sneak in a quick trip to Buntzen
Smuggler Cove
And just in case Ms Foster thinks I have made a typo: there really was only one smuggler here!Lake on the outskirts of Port Moody.
And now I’m back to where it all started. I have a strong sense of melancholy right now. I have enjoyed the last four months enormously and will miss my little van. But on the otherhand, it is time for a new phase in my adventures, and I look forward to that with anticipation...!
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Travis
non-member comment
What an amazing 4 months
Hi Mark, Thank you so much for this wonderful blog!!! This was really well written with some beautiful photography that kept me reading from the first to the last blog once I found it. I am looking forward to travelling to Canada from Australia later in 2011 for a 1 year working holiday. Part of the idea of the trip was to hire or buy a van and do exactly what you have done and visit parts of Canada, Alaska and NW America that are off the beaten track, and specifically to do it myself so that I can spend as much time as I like in a location if it really impresses me. Reading your blog I cant wait to get over to Canada for the first time and experience some of the amazing areas that you yourself have been telling us about. If you have any tips or tricks that you want to share about what you would or wouldnt do next time Id love to hear them!!! happy travels!